“Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin”

Hermes/Mercury- god of trickery, messengers, thieves, trade, travelers and athletes. A herald of the gods and a guide to the Underworld. Also the inventor of the lyre and fire. Born the son of Zeus and the Pleiade Maia, he was born in a cave on Mt. Kyllini/Cyllene and showed himself to be a thief and a trickster from an early age. On the day of his birth he slipped away from his mother, came across a tortoise, killed it and with reeds turned its shell into the first lyre. Next he went to…